


Two Arms Are Better Than One.

by Scotty1609



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Keith whump, Pidge (Voltron) Angst, Pidge Whump, Pidge | Katie Holt-centric, Protective Keith (Voltron), Self-Harm, Sexual Assault, Underage Sexual Assault, Whump, kinda sorta fluff?, the others only show for like 5 seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2018-10-28 05:23:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10824657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scotty1609/pseuds/Scotty1609
Summary: Pidge and Keith get kidnapped by slave traders. Things happen, and the two must work together heal and learn to trust again. (attempted rape, no actual rape)





	1. The Ugly

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS: Underage sexual assault, attempted rape, language
> 
> This is plain Pidge and Keith whump that touches sensitive topics.
> 
> Can be seen as Kidge or just siblingish.
> 
> PLEASE NOTE: not beta'd. none of my stuff is beta'd. sorry :/

“Don't touch her.”

The words were more growled than spoken, and the slave trader in front of Keith threw his head back and laughed. Keith bared his teeth at the man, feeling his Galra side slowly shifting to take over as the slave trader held Pidge up by her hair. The green paladin was nearly unconscious, a stream of blood slowly trickling from her temple down the side of her face. She was grimacing beneath the tugging on her scalp, her bound hands batting uselessly against the alien who held her captive.

“Or else what?” the slave trader- Keith thought one of the others referred to him as Bolo- sneered. “You'll nip at my heels? Pathetic little puppy,” Bolo chuckled darkly, making Keith writhe against his bonds and growl.

It had been a recon mission that brought them here. There were rumors of alien trafficking which had Allura and Shiro all in a tizzy, not to mention the rumors of there being human captives. False rumors, of course, to lure the paladins into the slave traders' traps. Apparently there was yet another bounty on them, and Keith and Pidge were the unlucky two to find out first.

Keith and Pidge were sent in their lions to investigate- Red being the fastest and Green being the stealthiest- and fell prey to the traders' trap. The lions were locked away in the charter ship's hangar, most likely surrounded by guards. Keith and Pidge had both been stripped of their armor, left barefoot and cold in their black body armor. Keith had scrapes on his face from being shoved into the floor, and his muscles were twitching from an electric shock when he tried to ram into Bolo.

Bolo dragged Pidge up to a standing position, still by her hair, and the concussed girl cried out in pain. “I swear to God-” Keith started, only to be rammed in the gut by the butt of a gun. He winced but kept his strong glare fixated on Bolo.

“She's a cute one,” the trade leader chuckled once more. “She'd sell well. Lots of men would have much to do with her...” He sniffed Pidge's cheek, nuzzling against her jaw. Pidge tried to move away, only succeeding in getting strands of hair ripped from her already bloody scalp.

Keith snapped out, “If you hurt her-”

“Well we have to test out our product, don't we?” Bolo was grinning wickedly now, and Pidge, in her deliriously pained state, wriggled more and looked to Keith with terrified eyes.

“K-Kei...th,” she whimpered, making Bolo and the other traders laugh.

Bolo's hand trailed down the girl's chest, groping her extensively, and dipped beneath her pant line to grab at her ass. “ _Don't touch her_!” Keith roared, charging towards Bolo. Two traders caught his shoulders, one socking him in the jaw, making his molar crack, while the other sucker-punched him in the gut. “ _Pidge_!” Keith called to the girl. She was only three yards away. Three extremely long yards away. Bolo was tearing her shirt off of her, revealing the girl's sports bra, and peeling down her pants.

“K-Keith!” Pidge was sobbing now, from pain or fear Keith didn't know, but he assumed it was a good mix of the both.

“I swear to God, you fucking bastards, you keep touching her and I'll rip your throat out!”

Bolo had handed Pidge off to another trader, who held her biceps behind her back. Pidge was shaking through to her bones, her knees weak and muscles exhausted. Her head wound was still bleeding, her eyes unfocused in her concussed state. And then Bolo was shredding her bra, revealing small breasts. Keith felt horrible for seeing Pidge like this, naked against her will and shaking from fear, but somehow he couldn't look away.

Bolo began unlacing his pants, one hand reaching for Pidge's underwear, and Keith saw only red. He launched upwards, vision going blurry as he wrenched his hands out of their bonds. His teeth sharpened, fangs dropping, and his nails elongated as he slashed at the slave trade leader. Blood spattered out across his face, but he ignored it in favor of sinking his fangs deep into Bolo's throat. Before anyone could move, Keith ripped his head backwards, his clenched jaw taking Bolo's trachea with it. The blood that followed soaked into the floor, gushed onto Keith and Pidge, pooled around Bolo's limp, fallen body.

The other traders were no longer slow, leaping into action and electrocuting Keith once more. Pidge shouted his name, the end of it turning into a strangled scream as she too was shocked. Keith collapsed to his knees, and Pidge was thrown into him. Even in his glazed state, Keith was able to grab her and brought her nude body to his chest, leaning over her and hissing at the traders who tried to get too close. He could feel his haunches rising, knew that his skin had morphed to purple down fur, but he didn't care.

“Galra,” one of the traders snapped as two more aliens dragged Bolo's body away. “You have done me a favor.”

“Favor?” Keith snapped. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Our leader,” the alien went on, “was a tyrant.”

“Yeah, because slave trading is _such_ a democracy.”

The trader ignored the comment. “You may keep your beloved for now-” Keith flushed from anger and embarrassment “-but we will be back for the both of you... soon.”

Whatever business the bastards had to 'attend' to, Keith didn't care. All he cared about was the twitching girl in his arms. Looking down into Pidge's face, Keith noticed that the girl's eyes were rolling into the back of her head, her mouth agape and body tensing up-

And then she began seizing.

“Shit!” Keith swore as he laid her on the floor, holding her neck and head steady so she wouldn't worsen her injuries. Was she seizing from the electric shock or a hemorrhage in her brain? Keith prayed that it wasn't the latter. But then he noticed blood gathering inside Pidge's ears and dripping from her nose. “ _Shit, shit, shit_ -” he let out a string of curses, “Shit, Pidge, _fuck_ -”

What had those bastards done to her? They hit her head with some kind of mallet, but Keith didn't think she would be bleeding from her ears because of that- right? Would she? He suddenly couldn't remember any of the medical training he received at the Garrison. Panic rose in his gut as Pidge suddenly went limp. Keith's hand instantly went for her throat and wrist, feeling for a pulse. It took a few agonizing moments to find her heartbeat, but when he did, Keith let out a heavy sigh of relief.

 _Shiro should have noticed we aren't back by now,_ the boy told himself, sitting back and pulling his shirt over his head. _He'll come for us. He'll send help._

Keith, gentle as he could, tugged the top over Pidge's head and wrangled her arms inside. The girl moaned and curled up towards him, and Keith thanked any deity out there that she was still semi-conscious. “Pidge, stay with me,” he spoke to her in a calm, low voice. His panic was only barely hidden as Pidge's glazed eyes lifted to stare at him. “Yeah, yeah Pidge, that's it. Stay with me- Pidge. _Pidge_!”

The girl's eyes were fluttering closed, and Keith resisted the urge to shake her awake. That would do nothing good for her head injuries. “ _PIDGE_!” _Oh God, Shiro_ _ **please**_ _\- get here soon. Please, please Shiro, get here soon._

“K-Kei...th... Kei...”

“Pidge,” Keith shifted her to rest in his lap, her back against his chest and her head lying against his bare, fuzzy shoulder. “Pidge, stay awake. Talk to me. _Please_ , talk to me.” His voice cracked on the 'please'.

“K...Ke... m' dad... n' bro'her... t-tell... t-tell 'em I didn' stop look...looking...”

“No, Pidge, you'll be there to tell them yourself. I promise.”

“P'omise, Ke...ith?” The girl's eyes were filling with tears, and she rasped out a sob. “I don' wanna die, Keit'... P'omise...”

“I promise, Pidge,” Keith rested his forehead against hers, getting the girl's blood in his hair. “I promise, you won't die here. Shiro is coming. Shiro and Lance and Hunk- they're coming to get us.”

Pidge's eyelids were closing, and Keith did shake her this time. “Pidge. Pidge! Stay with me- _shit_ \- stay with me, Pidge. C'mon, tell me more about your family- you have a dog, right? What's it's name? Pidge?”

“G-Gun...Gunt'r.”

“Gunther? That's good, that's good, Pidge. What kind of dog is he?”

“Pit...bull...”

“I like Pit bulls,” Keith gave a bitter, weak smile that Pidge couldn't see. “Tell me more. What about your mom?”

“Pr'fessor... Androm'da U...”

“Andromeda University?” He had always wanted to go to Andromeda. But then the Galaxy Garrison happened, and Shiro disappeared, and his foster mother died and then aliens and the blue lion-

And now Pidge. And him. They were alone.

_Shiro is coming. Shiro is coming. Shiro is coming._

“What about your brother? What was his name? Matt, right? Tell me about Matt.”

Pidge didn't respond, and Keith was mortified to see that her eyes were closed. “No, no, no- _Pidge_ , tell me about Matt. Tell me! Pidge- _PIDGE_!”

Just in time, the cell door was blasted open. And then Hunk was there, his bayard shifting back to its hand-held form. He hooked it to his hip and crouched in front of Keith. “Take her,” Keith croaked to the younger boy. “ _Hurry_ , Hunk!”

Shiro was there, too, helping Keith to stand as Hunk rushed Pidge to the black lion. Lance was covering for them, blasting back at slave traders who were shouting over the din of their captives- now set loose- raiding the weapons room and taking back their liberty. “Let's _go_!” Lance exclaimed, to which Shiro nodded.

“Keith, can you walk?”

“Y-Yeah, I- I can walk.”

Shiro wrapped an arm around the boy's waist, dragging Keith's arm over his shoulders. “Lance, let's move out.” Shiro said something else, but Keith didn't hear it. His eyes were fixed on the hole in the hull of the ship where Black's maws were open wide. He could see Hunk's broad back and Pidge's limp feet, her hand draped lifelessly over Hunk's arm.

“Pidge- Shiro, _Pidge-_ ”

“She'll be okay, Keith,” Shiro promised as he helped the stumbling boy into the black lion's mouth. “I promise. We'll get her to a pod. Allura and Coran went for the lions, so you don't have to worry about that, either.” The man barked orders to Lance, who nodded back- Keith had never seen Lance so serious- and charged into Black's cockpit, still shooting at traders. They were mostly fallen, their liberated captives beating them black and blue. Shiro dragged Keith aboard the black lion.

Filled with relief, Keith allowed himself to fall unconscious.

 

 

 


	2. The Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge emerges from cryo, and Keith has a nightmare. Shiro just wants to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: mentions of sexual assault, (faux) attempted sexual assault, trauma, panic attacks
> 
> Keith has a nightmare in here that is probably just as triggering- maybe moreso- than what happened in the last chapter, so please be cautious in reading.
> 
> This is going to be a Kidge fic per very popular request, so please be aware if that is also triggering!!
> 
> AGES:  
> Keith- 17  
> Pidge- 15  
> Lance- 17  
> Hunk- 18  
> Shiro- 25

A happy shriek, filled with giggling mirth, filled his ears. Keith's eyes fluttered open, and he saw a face peering down at him. Without her glasses and with her hair long, Pidge looked very different. Some things were the same- her freckled cheeks, her big gold eyes, the soft pink set of lips settled beneath her pert nose.

Keith grinned as Pidge crouched down and kissed his forehead. “Get up, dumbass. Why are you lying around anyways? We're supposed to be having a picnic.”

A picnic? But Pidge hated the outdoors. She would rather be playing video games inside or stringing out cryptic coding-

“ _Keith_ ,” Pidge groaned, rolling on the grass to lay down next to him. Keith noticed that she was wearing a dress, a light purple button-down one. Her fluffy locks fell around her head like a halo as she curled up on her side, facing Keith. “C'mon, Keith, let's eat something. I'm starving!”

_You're so cute I could eat **you**_. Keith blushed at the thought.

“You pervert!” Pidge flushed red and smacked his shoulder, although her lips were upturned in a smile. Had Keith said that aloud? Or was Pidge just reading his mind like she always did? “I _guess_ we can start off with an appetizer...”

And then she was kissing him, her soft lips on his and her hands lying gently on his chest. Keith's hands instantly went to clasp at her slim waist, his fingers toying with the pudge that resided there. “P-Pidge,” Keith grunted when the girl's hands began trailing down his chest and fidgeting with his belt. “Pidge- should we be- be doing this? I mean- we-”

“How many times have I told you to call me Katie, Keith?” Pidge giggled as she nuzzled his chin. “C'mon, Keith, let's fool around a little...”

And then all of a sudden, he was on top with Pidge beneath him. When had that happened? Had he flipped her? Her legs and skirt were hiked up around his waist, the top few buttons undone and revealing the tops of her small breasts. Keith's mouth was dry as he loomed over her to mouth at her collarbone. Pidge whimpered and huffed above him, her legs wrapping around him tightly. Keith's hands were on her thighs, stretching up further and playing with her panties-

What was he doing? Why was he doing this? Sure, he liked Pidge, but- but this was not the time, nor the place to be doing this. Not in a public park-

“We're in your room, Keith,” Pidge panted out to him. “Do what you want to me.”

Sure enough, the young couple was lying on the mattress in the desert shack that Keith owned back on Earth. Back... on Earth?

Pidge was in between crying and giggling as Keith's mouth laved over her breasts, his tongue tracing the top of her bra and his fingers slowly pulling down her panties. “K-Keith!” she shouted.

But she didn't sound happy.

“Keith, _stop_!”

He couldn't stop.

“K-Keith, _please stop_!”

He was trying to. God, was he trying to. He felt like a ghost in the husk of his own body, watching in horror as Pidge's panties were ripped off of her small body, her dress suddenly sporting tears and flecks of blood and dirt. Keith's hands were moving of their own accord, and he was screaming at himself to stop, to let go, to _stop touching her stop it Keith stop stopstopstop-_

There were black and blue hand-shaped bruises on Pidge's thighs, her wrists creaking under the strain of Keith's own larger hand pinning them above her head. She was shaking with sobs, screaming and begging for Keith to let go of her, to stop touching her, to leave her alone, to go _die_ \- Keith was sobbing too, tears running down his cheeks as the foul taste of Pidge's sweat and blood flowed over his tongue. _Oh God, I can't stop_ , he thought horrified, _Why can't I stop? I want to stop. Stop._ _ **STOP**_ _._

“ _KEITH!”_

Oh God, she was screaming his name with such terror that he wanted to vomit.

“ _ **KEITH**!”_

Okay, Pidge's voice was _not_ that deep.

“ _KEITH, WAKE UP! KEITH!”_

And then Pidge was gone. There were sheets in Keith's fisted hands, and his face was burrowed into a damp pillow as he sobbed. His throat felt raw- had he been screaming? He didn't remember screaming, but the tell-tale signs of feeling hot and scratchy skin inside his neck said otherwise.

“K-Keith? Keith, are you alright?”

A hand touched his shoulder, and then Keith was jumping up and pressing himself back against the wall, grasping the hilt of his knife and hunching over in a self-protective stance atop his mattress.

Hunk's wide eyes stared at Keith with such sadness and pity that it made the older boy want to vomit. “Keith? Hey, buddy, is everything okay? You were having a nightmare.”

“Why are you in my room?”

Hunk rubbed the back of his neck. “Pidge is gonna get out of her pod any minute now. We figured you'd want to be there.”

“Oh.”

“...Um, Keith, buddy? Y'think you could- um- stop pointing your knife at me?”

Keith dropped his knife to his side and began peeling himself off the wall, exiting the lower bunk of his bed and stretching to a standing position next to Hunk. The yellow paladin gave a grin that was probably supposed to be comforting- it wasn't- and led Keith down the hall towards the medicine bay.

Keith had only been forced to spend a few hours inside one of the pods. Coran insisted that his brain needed the healing and rest because of the multiple electric shocks he had received, and Shiro was quick to agree. Hence, Keith spent what he considered to be an unnecessary three hours away from the world, away from the others, away from Pidge. Immediately after exiting his pod, Keith brushed past a concerned-looking Shiro and made his way to the training room. Another two hours passed before Keith became too exhausted to even stand, and he stumbled to his bedroom to hunker down until Pidge was awake. That had been...

“You slept for a while,” Hunk murmured, “longer than you normally do. Pidge has been in stasis for almost twelve hours now.”

Three hours in a pod, two hours training- that meant Keith had slept for nearly seven hours. He typically only slept four or five. Seven was a new record.

“Shiro and Coran didn't want to wake you up, but I knew you'd be mad if she woke up and you weren't there.”

Keith hummed in response.

When they reached the cryo-chamber, Keith hung back while the rest of the team huddled around Pidge's pod. Lance's face was practically pressed against the glass, his hands resting at chest-height as though he was ready to pry it open and drag the girl out. Hunk was shifting from foot to foot, asking Coran a multitude of questions to which the older Altean answered calmly and collectedly. Allura and Shiro stood shoulder-to-shoulder, and Keith could see the back of their hands brushing together in their nervousness.

And then the pod was hissing open, and everyone was jumping in unnecessary shock as Pidge stumbled forward into Lance's arms-

And promptly screamed.

Lance held tighter to Pidge in reflex as she screamed, bringing her to his chest and trying to soothe her. It was as though Pidge couldn't see Lance's face, though. She fought against him violently, flailing limbs and red face showing her blatant fear. “Pidge, Pidge!” Lance was practically shouting to her, rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe that made Pidge sob even harder. “Pidge, _please_ \- you're okay, you're fine, you're safe-”

“Lance-” Shiro began, reaching for Pidge to try and placate her himself.

But then, red-faced and squalling like a newborn, Pidge shrieked, “KEITH!”

He was on autopilot, muscles reacting before his brain could. Keith lurched forward across the room, snagged Pidge's arm, and ripped her from Lance's grasp. In an instant, he had her back halfway across the room and was protectively bent over the girl as she sobbed and clutched at his shirt, tears and snot coating his jacket.

“K-K-Keit',” she stammered, near to hyperventilating. “Kei- Kei- Kei-”

“Hey, hey,” Keith spoke in hushed tones to Pidge as the others gazed upon the duo with shock. “Ssh, Pidge, ssh. You're safe now- we're back at the Castleship, see?”

This side of Keith was one that only Shiro had seen before- the side of the boy that played with his younger foster siblings, that bandaged their scrapped knees and helped them with homework. The side of Keith that hadn't surfaced for nearly five years, not since his foster mother died and he enlisted in the Galaxy Garrison instead of going to another orphanage.

“Keith...” Pidge's hyperventilating had slowly to gasps, and she nestled her face into his chest, shivering and trying to dissolve into his arms away from the others and the world.

“Let's get her a bath,” Allura was the first to break the ensuing awkward silence. “Keith? I think she would appreciate your presence.”

Flushing darkly, Keith nodded. Wrapping one arm around Pidge's back, the other roping across her torso to clasp her opposite shoulder, Keith allowed Allura to lead them out the door and to the princess's quarters.

Keith had never seen Allura's bedroom, but it was about how he imagined. Purple gauze hung from the ceiling and enveloped the king sized bed in a canopy, and a beauty bureau lined with gold trim resided against the wall. There was a simple dresser, a chaise at the foot of the bed, and a door that Keith assumed led to the restroom.

“Pidge?” Allura dared not touch the girl, still wrapped up in Keith's arms, as she spoke. “Would you like to take a bath?” The stasis pods healed any bruises, but the phantom pains of what Pidge had gone through still made the girl's bones weary and achy.

Slowly, she nodded towards the princess.

“Would you like for Keith to accompany us?”

Pidge shook her head vehemently, and Keith felt a conflicting sense of relief and distress.

“C-Can... can you wait outside the door?”

It took Keith a moment to process that Pidge was speaking to him, but when he did, he nodded seriously. “Of course.”

Allura gently coaxed Pidge into the bathroom, and Keith took a seat on the chaise. He was tense, fiddling his thumbs nervously for nearly a half hour before the girl emerged again.

Pidge was now donning a dressing gown of Allura's. Perhaps short on the princess, the baby blue lace let down to just above Pidge's ankles, and the long sleeves his her hands from view. Her damp hair was plastered to her neck, and her eyes looked much less frantic than they had earlier. Apparently Allura had brought Pidge's glasses with her, because they were now perched on the girl's petite nose.

“Keith, you are welcome to bathe as well,” Allura told him. Sure, he had showered after training, but he had also slept seven hours since then and had sweat himself cold of nightmares.

The tub was large- larger enough to cover Keith's shoulders and knees under the scorching water. It hurt- the sensitivity of his flesh and the tenderness of his weary muscles protested against the scalding water, but her ignored it in favor of tilting his head back and closing his eyes. Even sleeping as long as he had, Keith still felt exhausted. He had never been in a healing pod up until the night before, and Coran assured the boy that the feeling was natural. Although, Keith assumed his nightmares were also partially to blame.

It was nearly an hour later when there came a knock on the door, and Shiro's voice resounded through the metal.

“Keith? You drown in there or something?”

Ah, it was lovely to hear Shiro's fatalistic humor once more. Natural, soothing in fact.

“I'm good,” Keith croaked back, finally dragging his body out of the hot water. His feet were red, his body pink, and his hair had been coated in even more sweat from the steam. “Just... fell asleep.”

If Shiro didn't believe him, he didn't say anything.

When Keith emerged from the restroom, he noted that Allura and Pidge were gone. Shiro was sitting on the chaise now, elbows resting against his knees and forehead in his hands. As soon as the door swooshed shut, the man was standing and peering at Keith with a morbid curiosity.

“You must be hungry.”

On cue, Keith's stomach rumbled loudly, and Shiro chuckled. “Let's go. The others should be in the kitchen by now.”

On their way towards the kitchen, Shiro casually cleared his throat. “So... Hunk told me you were having a nightmare.”

_Dammit._

“Wanna talk about it?”

“No.” The response was crisp and short and made Shiro sigh heavily. They had only just gotten past Keith's emotional defenses, but now the walls were back up and reinforced with brick and barbed wire.

“You know it isn't you fault, right? You _saved_ her, Keith. You stopped them before the bastards could hurt her even more.”

“It wasn't enough.”

Shiro's eyes held something Keith couldn't identify. Concern? Melancholy? Not pity, but perhaps empathy? Placing a strong hand on Keith's shoulder, Shiro stopped their walking and turned Keith to face him fully. Keith avoided his mentor's eyes, instead looking down at his boots with a new-found curiosity.

“Keith. It was _not your fault_. You did everything you could in the situation, and you saved Pidge from a lifetime of fear and mistrust. Maybe even death. Sure, it's going to take a while for her to heal- for you _both_ to heal, but it could have been so, so much worse.”

Well, Keith couldn't argue that point. Throat suddenly thick with emotion, the boy merely nodded before turning on his heel and finishing the distance towards the kitchen.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!! I had fun writing this chapter, and I want to ask if you guys have any ideas for the final chapter? It's going to be called "The Good" (Like the Good, the Bad, the Ugly, only reversed). I'm open to any and all prompts, although I can't promise they will be included. (Sorry!!)
> 
> Thanks again for reading, my friends! Stay tuned for the final chapter.


	3. The Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Keith learn to heal. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: chapter contains references to self-harm and attempted rape

They prolonged missions as long as they could, but the teenagers were the main pieces in an intergalactic war of chess. The lions of Voltron could only stay out of the game for so long before the world began wondering where they had run off too. It ended up only being a week before Allura approached the others with news of a recon mission. Typically, she would go to the paladin of the green lion first with recon missions, what with Green's cloaking and all, but Allura had more compassion than that. She went to the others (sans Keith, to his annoyance) first. Keith insisted on coming with them- his aggression at the slave traders could only be taken out on training bots for so long- but Shiro benched him for that mission. When it became apparent that Keith _needed_ to get back into the field to heal- after he destroyed a good third of the training deck- Shiro and Allura allowed him back to his lion.

Being back in Red's cockpit was cathartic. Her unruliness became his peace, her violent retribution his strength. It was somewhat terrifying just how bloodthirsty Keith became on missions, how blatantly reckless (even more than before) and- dare they say it- suicidal.

Shiro benched him for a week following a two-month period of recklessness.

All the while, Green had been in remission. Pidge worked tirelessly on the lion, bundled up in Lance's jacket and Keith's stolen bandanna (though he didn't much mind the thievery). A month after her assault, Allura approached Pidge with a mission. It went terribly. Pidge was determined to get back out there, but her mind was elsewhere. Anytime someone even brushed against her shoulder, she went into fight-or-flight mode. It was to be expected, but also a weakness of Voltron that they couldn't afford.

Pidge was benched for the next three months, the paladins just barely scraping by without Voltron.

Back to Keith, benched for the second time and a ball of inconsolable rage, found the red paladin training to the max. After three days of sleepless nights and bruises, Coran changed the key-codes for the training room. Which left Keith back at square one.

With nothing left to do in his day, Keith took to bugging Pidge. Well, not so much bugging as stalking. Though Pidge didn't quite mind at first. Keith was the only person she could stand to touch, which was unhealthy but as to be expected. After a few days of stalking, Pidge became irritated and whirled around to rant and rave until Keith agreed to just hang out with her.

So found the paladins in the hangar. Keith was sketching out bayard designs on a holo-pad provided by Coran, and Pidge was lying upside-down beneath the crouched green lion. She had gone off about what she was working on a few hours prior, but even with his Galaxy Garrison training Keith had only understood a few words of the science babble. Pidge ended up just shrugging and getting back to her work.

Keith studied the green paladin's face from a the space beneath Green's belly. Dark circles under Pidge's eyes stood out against her paler than usual flesh, her typically bright eyes dull with weariness and a whirlwind of uncertainty. Her body lacked its usual perky energy, her shoulders heavy with the weight of the world. It wasn't something the girl should be having to deal with at her age- not something _anyone_ should have to deal with at _any_ age. And yet here they were, Keith with unbridled rage and Pidge with bone-crushing sadness.

Keith went back to his doodles. It wasn't until he heard a whimper that he looked back up.

Sometime in the past hour or so, it seemed that Pidge had fallen asleep. Green had dimmed her lights and was emanating a comfortable warmth, but even that didn't seem enough to save the poor girl from her nightmares.

“N-No-” Pidge whimpered, curling up on her side, face contorted in pain. “S-Stop... N-No... Please,” the word came out as a sob, a knife to Keith's heart, “P-please! Stop!” Pidge's whimpers quickly rose to shouts. Keith dropped his tablet to the side and scrambled off his makeshift nest of blankets to get over to the younger teen. “Stop! _Please_!!”

“Pidge!” Keith exclaimed as he hovered over her, not sure if he should reach out or not. “Hey, it's okay, it's just a nightmare-”

The scent of blood reached his nose, and it took Keith a moment to realize it was coming from Pidge. Her nails were digging into her arms, bringing forth an unusual amount of blood.

“Hey!” Keith reached forward and grabbed Pidge's wrists. “Pidge, _Pidge_! Wake up!”

The girl's eyes shot open, pupils dilated to the max as they darted around frantically. Almost immediately upon realizing it was Keith holding her, Pidge relaxed.

“O-Oh! Keith! What- um- hi.”

Keith snorted, letting go of the girl's wrists. “Hi.” His brows furrowed upon seeing the neat red lines bleeding into Pidge's sweatshirt. “Pidge, what...?”

“That'snothing!” Pidge shouted it as one word, bringing her arms to her chest. But Keith's sharp Galra nose told him else wise.

It wasn't hard to wrench the girl's arm away from her chest- all of the life seemed to have been drained out of her in the past months- and it was even easier to wrench her sleeve up.

Keith's brain sobbed at what he saw, but his composure remained stone.

Neat lines of scars- some pink and fresh, some white and old- trailed up from Pidge's wrist to her inner elbow. A few of the cuts closer to her wrists were the freshest, the scabs having broken open when Pidge scratched at them. Keith stared at the cuts, blinking back tears, for a long while before looking up at Pidge. Upon seeing the redness of Keith's eyes, Pidge burst into sobs.

“I-I'm sorry! I'm s-s-so s-sorry, Keith... I- I couldn't- I didn't know what else to d-d-do!!” Ugly drippings of snot and tears ran down the girl's face, and Keith was just so horror-struck at seeing himself in the younger paladin that he didn't know what else to do but pull her close. Keith practically mashed Pidge's face into his chest, but she didn't seem to mind. She clutched at his shirt, sobbing with abandon, not even trying to muffle the noises.

Keith held her. He held her for seconds, minutes, and then hours. When her tears finally slowed, Keith lifted the girl up to lean against him as he walked her to the medical bay. He sat her down on a table, sanitized and wrapped her arms, and then wrapped her in the fluffiest blanket he could find.

Shiro found them later that night after the two failed to show up for dinner. Keith had taken Pidge to the living room and wrapped them both up in mounds of blankets. The boy was in the middle of pointing out fake constellations for Pidge to name. Both of them were blinking sleepily, but adamant against falling prey to more nightmares. Shiro didn't have the heart to send them to their rooms, so he simply dimmed the lights and told them that dinner was ready when they were.

It wasn't until the next morning that Keith realized he had fallen asleep without any nightmares, cuddled up against Pidge's back with his arms around her.

 

…

 

Pidge practically moved in to Keith's room after that. They cuddled to sleep, their touches innocent and docile. Shiro wanted to stop them, wanted to prevent any heartbreak, but he couldn't. Not when the two seemed to be smiling more, talking with the others and, for god's sake, _laughing_.

It was a few weeks later when Pidge hugged Shiro of her own volition that the black paladin knew everything was going to be alright.

Keith trained Pidge to fight hand-to-hand, to toss off someone twice her size and to fight with a blade. In turn, Pidge taught Keith theoretical physics- a class he had skipped out on at the Garrison- and advanced coding. Surprisingly, Keith also taught Pidge how to draw and, also surprisingly, Pidge taught Keith to bake. They learned more about each other than they ever thought they would. For instance, how Keith was deathly afraid of spiders, and how Pidge's favorite color was actually gray. They celebrated each others' birthdays, and Pidge shared Hanukkah and Rosh Hashanah with Keith. He in turn shared bedtime stories his father had told him when he was a child, and showed Pidge his collection of drawings.

Keith didn't know where they were going. Whether it be as fellow soldiers or lovers, he wasn't yet sure. All he knew is wherever they were going, they were going together.

As the Arms of Voltron.

 

 

_Fin._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fought myself at putting in Pidge's self-harm and leaving everything so open-ended, but I feel like there's no easy fix to this fic. There's no happy ending besides the one Pidge and Keith made for themselves. I'm sorry if this chapter is lacking to anyone, but this fic IS complete.
> 
> In other words.... I'M BACK BABY! Thank you guys so much for all your love and support, even though it seemed that I abandoned this fic. And in all honesty I had, but I just watched season 5 today and had a lot of feels that I needed to get out....
> 
> I love you guys so much, and thank you for reading!!
> 
> ~Scotty

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry.
> 
> Want more Pidge&/Keith? Lemme know! Also, please let me know if you want this fic to be Kidge or just platonic. (I'm a big Kidge fan personally, but I can always get behind some good platonic fluff as well.)


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